The only person laughing is usually the person who made the joke and it’s generally just irritating to everyone else who just wants to get on with their day. I might feel differently if we like, got the day off work for April Fools Day I guess

  • FinishingDutch@lemmy.world
    26·
    8 months ago

    I absolutely loathe this day. Most of it is just dumb, silly and annoying. Especially when this dumb shit gets forced on you by companies whose marketing teams think they’re clever.

    I also used to work at a radio/TV station where we covered pranks during april fools. That was a real eye-opener: there are waaaaay too many idiots out there who fall for jokes and take things at face value. Basically, they’re a cruel way to mess with vulnerable, gullible people.

    Now, if someone wants to make a joke at their own expense, go for it. But don’t do it at the expense of others.

    • Scrubbles@poptalk.scrubbles.tech
      9·
      8 months ago

      Bingo, on both accounts. April 1 is now a marketing tool for companies, and all of those are just annoying now (mostly because they’re so worried about the blowback they won’t do anything anyway)

      And for the second, way too many people forget that jokes end with both parties laughing at the end. Maybe something missed something, or fell for something, but it should be small and lighthearted, not something where they actually feel embarrassment or anger afterwards. If only the joke teller is laughing, then it wasn’t funny.

      Now lighthearted things where both people end up laughing? Have at it, it’s one day of lighthearted joking - but anymore that’s rare.

    • distantsounds@lemmy.world
      3·
      8 months ago

      This is true, but the same can be said about Christmas and Easter. At least April fools only has to be endured for one day; the Xmas bs starts in mid oct now

      • FinishingDutch@lemmy.world
        7·
        8 months ago

        Don’t get me started on Christmas….

        At our radio station, we start Christmas music on December 6th, right after the Dutch celebration of Sinterklaas. And like every other station out there, we play the same exact ten songs every hour until december 27th.

        Most people probably aren’t really aware, but as a station you get sent a LOT of unsolicited music. Which also includes a ton of Christmas themed songs starting around June. Everyone wants to be the next Mariah Carey.

        One year, our music programmers decide to get creative: “Everyone has the same playlist. Fuck that! We’ll play the Christmas songs nobody else plays!”

        So they meticulously comb through that mountain of CD’s that we got throughout the year, digging up the proverbial diamonds in a pile of manure. And they put together a lovely playlist featuring unique, decent songs.

        December 6th rolls around. 9 AM. It’s The Big Day. The new playlist goes live. By 9.15 the first calls come in. By 10 AM, the phone is red hot with calls. By 11 AM, someone phones in an honest-to-God death threat. The listeners aren’t having it; they want goddamn Mariah Carey or nothing at all. So by midday, the new playlist gets yanked and replaced by four-times-per-hour ‘All I want for Christmas is you’.

        And since that year, we know better than to get creative around Christmas. Don’t fuck with Mariah Carey fans…